by Olivia Barker, USA TODAY

by Olivia Barker, USA TODAY

Someone has joined the billionaire boys' club, and it's not for selling bits and bytes, but for putting people in stitches.

Michael Kors, the designer - and, thanks to Project Runway, accidental funnyman - cemented his position as not just a fashion fixture but a bona fide businessman when his company's stock soared 17.3% Tuesday to close at $89.91, turning the 54-year-old into a billionaire, according to Bloomberg.

Kors owns approximately 2% of Michael Kors Holdings Ltd., where he's the chief creative officer. That stock is worth about $390 million, estimates the wire service. He has amassed another $700 million-plus selling Kors shares since the company went public in 2011, Bloomberg says.

How did he weather retail's Great Recession so robustly? Fashion's quip king sells not just true luxury goods but the aspirational kind, which even regular mall-goers can grab.